Quote:
Originally Posted by Refresh
Is 45AH produced, in full desert blasting mid-day sun, a realistic aim?
|
The panels will be producing amps....over time you'll accumulate amp hours.
If you mount a pair of 360W house style panels as an example.....you'll have 720W. 720W/12V=60 amps.....on paper under laboratory conditions in cold weather with blazing sun directly overhead. Realistically you'll see 75-80% of this in real life conditions (rough estimate)...so 45 amps or so...
Also keep in mind that's high noon with the sun directly overhead. When the sun is rising and setting the solar output is much less. Portable panels do a good job when the sun isn't directly overhead since you can move them around and keep them pointed at the sun.
Most RV style solar controllers are rated at 30 amps, but there are plenty of controllers that are rated higher....Midnight Solar is one manufacturer that make higher current rated controllers.
Also, you may already know this, but if you use a PWM controller you need to stick to 12V rated panels which output around 17V max. MPPT controllers are a bit more efficient and can use any voltage panel. Residential house style panels output around 36V or more max voltage. Since you are talking Lithium and want max performance we'll assume you want an MPPT controller.